As energy costs rise across Africa, industrial motor efficiency presents a clear opportunity for savings. Upgrading to high-efficiency motors can cut motor-related consumption by 20–30%, translating to approximately 15% savings on total electricity costs in an industrial facility. These reliable, achievable results can significantly boost industrial competitiveness, as discussed in EELA's recent webinar on sub-Saharan Africa conducted in partnership with Chemonics Egypt.

"Motors are truly the workhorses of industry," stated Ahmed Huzayyin, Head of the Eco-Industrial Department at Chemonics Egypt. "They're everywhere in our factories, embedded in equipment or running independently. What many don't realize is that motors account for roughly 70% of industrial electricity consumption, making them by far the single largest user of electrical energy in the industrial sector."

Given this critical role, several African governments have introduced Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Egypt have all established or are implementing baseline efficiency requirements for motors sold in their markets. Motor efficiency is classified through the International Efficiency (IE) standard, ranging from IE1 to IE5, with each level representing progressively higher efficiency. Since most motors currently installed in African factories are IE1 or below, the improvement potential is substantial: each step up the IE scale delivers approximately about 15% electrical energy savings.

MAXIMISING ENERGY SAVINGS: A HOLISTIC APPROACH

Yet selecting an efficient motor is only part of the solution. Industrial motors drive diverse equipment, such as pumps, air compressors, conveyors, cooling systems, and more. Maximizing energy savings requires a systems approach: efficiency improvements must extend beyond the motor itself to optimize the entire driven system and ensure all components work together effectively. This approach has been central for UNIDO global interventions on improving efficiency of electric motors driven systems.

Transitioning this installed base from IE1 to IE2 alone could generate collective annual savings of at least $1.5 billion in electricity costs (based on the 15 countries assessed).

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAVINGS: OPTIMIZING WHAT IS ALREADY EXISTING

Assessing energy-saving opportunities in industrial facilities demands a holistic view. Three parameters define a viable investment: affordability, savings potential, and ease of implementation. Can the facility finance it? How much will it actually save? How disruptive will installation be? Evaluating all three factors simultaneously helps prioritize interventions that maximize impact while minimizing barriers, ensuring that efficiency investments are both technically sound and practically achievable.

Building on this premise, few priority opportunities exist for motor energy efficiency improvements. Needless to say, the below is not a recommendation for specific investments for a specific factory where each decision in the facility has to be analysed and taken based on the on-ground conditions. The measures below rather provide ideas for industrial facilities to explore.

• Install Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) on pumps with fluctuating flow demands. VSDs adjust motor speed to match system requirements, maintaining efficiency while reducing energy consumption, unlike throttling or other mechanical speed adjustment methods that lead to low energy efficiency. This intervention is most effective when flow frequently varies between 20% and 80% of capacity, where savings can reach up to 80%. While VSDs require moderate capital investment and careful technical analysis during design and installation, the energy savings often justify the upfront costs.
• Ensure proper alignment and select efficient coupling elements. Poor motor-to-equipment alignment can reduce efficiency while causing premature failures including shaft cracks, bearing damage, and accelerated coupling wear. The coupling connecting motor to driven equipment profoundly affects system efficiency, yet coupling selection is often an afterthought. Based on the type on proper integration of coupling elements, the efficiency of coupling can vary widely between 50% and 99%, with obvious high potential saving opportunities for relatively low capital investments. Improving coupling efficiency by just 1% saves approximately USD 180 annually per 100 HP motor operating one shift when analysis was done for selected East African Countries. This measure delivers both immediate energy savings and long-term maintenance benefits, making it one of the most cost-effective interventions available. It is key to specify high-efficiency couplings appropriate to the application's torque, speed, and misalignment tolerance requirements, and maintain them through regular inspection and proper lubrication.
• Improving power quality. Power quality distortions can come from system harmonics caused by external sources or other factors such as unbalanced motor supply —where one phase differs significantly from the others—causes motors to operate inefficiently and overheat. Voltage imbalance or high level of harmonics leads to energy losses and can also shortening motor lifespan. Harmonics—distortions in the electrical supply waveform caused by equipment like variable frequency drives, welders, inverters, and fluorescent lighting—reduce motor efficiency and generate excess heat as well. Harmonic filters restore clean sine-wave power, improving motor performance and reducing energy losses. While the filters themselves are affordable, this intervention requires specialized analysis: harmonic meters must identify distortion sources and severity, and engineers must determine optimal filter types and placement. t Improving power quality deliver both energy savings and extended equipment life. For instance, an voltage imbalance of just 3.6% can reduce motor efficiency by approximately 2%, costing around USD 360 annually for a 100 HP motor operating one shift when analysis was done for various East African countries.
• Optimize coordination for multiple motors serving shared loads. When several motors or motor driven equipment such as compressors, chillers or pumps share a load without coordination, individual units often run at suboptimal conditions, wasting energy and reducing their expected lifetime. Modern sequencers or automatic coordinators ensure multiple units work together efficiently, matching total output to actual demand while keeping each motor in its optimal operating range. Even without automatic controls, strategic scheduling of which units run and when can significantly improve overall system efficiency. This approach is particularly effective for compressor banks, cooling systems, and pump arrays.
• Optimize compressor staging and scheduling. Beyond coordination, strategic staging of different-sized compressors maximizes efficiency. As demand increases, replace smaller units with larger ones rather than overloading small compressors,larger units typically operate more efficiently at higher loads. Proper staging prevents both underloading (where compressors cycle excessively) and overloading (where small units struggle inefficiently). This optimization often requires only control setpoint adjustments rather than new equipment.​​​​​​​
• Address harmonic distortion with targeted filters. Harmonics—distortions in the electrical supply waveform caused by equipment like variable frequency drives, welders, inverters, and fluorescent lighting—reduce motor efficiency and generate excess heat. Harmonic filters restore clean sine-wave power, improving motor performance and reducing energy losses. The moderate energy savings are often supplemented by reduced motor overheating, lower maintenance costs, and improved reliability across electrical systems.
• Optimize compressed air system pressure and eliminate leaks. Operating pressure directly impacts energy consumption—each 1 bar reduction saves approximately 7% in compressor electricity use. Lower system-wide pressure by fixing leaks, installing local boosters where higher pressure is needed in specific areas, and adding adequate storage to maintain pressure stability without over-pressurizing the entire network. This intervention offers moderate savings with reasonable implementation costs. Regular leak detection and repair, combined with strategic placement of boosters and receivers, creates a right-sized pressure profile that delivers required performance at minimum energy cost.​​​​​​​
• Right-size motors to match actual load requirements. Motor efficiency peaks at 75–100% of rated capacity and drops significantly at both extremes. While most recognize that overloading reduces efficiency and risks failure, fewer realize that undersized loads—motors operating below 50% capacity—also waste energy through poor power factor and increased losses. Proper motor sizing during equipment specification or replacement requires no additional capital investment (and at times savings) beyond selecting the appropriate rating, yet delivers ongoing efficiency gains. Conduct load assessments before purchasing replacements to match motor capacity to actual operating duty rather than oversizing "just to be safe."​​​​​​​​​​
• Upgrade to higher efficiency motors (IE3/IE4) where economics justify investment. Replacing old motors with high-efficiency models remains one of the most impactful capital investments available. While low- or no-cost measures—such as fixing compressed air leaks or correcting coupling alignment—should be implemented immediately, motor replacements require proper financial analysis. In most African countries, upgrading from IE1 to IE3 or IE4 motors, particularly ones that are operating for longer hours delivers payback periods as low as less than a year, depending on electricity tariffs, motor size, and annual operating hours. Prioritize replacement of older, larger motors operating long hours, where both savings potential and payback are most attractive.

When all the above options are consider in an optimum manner, facilities can save about 25% of their overall electricity consumption.

INVESTING IN HIGH‑EFFICIENCY MOTORS: A SMART, LONG‑TERM STRATEGY

Because motor replacement is not a simple one‑off decision, facilities are encouraged to adopt a systematic approach: evaluate whether a failing motor should be rewound or replaced, implement preventive maintenance, and prioritise motors that are older, larger, or operating for long daily hours. Developing an internal procurement policy for efficient motors, along with a proactive investment plan, helps ensure that replacements are made strategically rather than reactively. Finally, engaging procurement and finance teams is essential, as they must understand why a higher‑efficiency motor, though more expensive upfront, offers significantly better lifetime performance, resilience, and cost savings.

For further knowing about the topic various relevant reading are available on UNIDO knowledge platforms including capacity building material on motor efficiency and particularly the following resources:

• Manual for Industrial Motor Systems Assessments and Optimization, UNIDO, 2018
• UNIDO Egypt, Industrial Motors Energy Efficiency Programme (IMEP) – 2020 to 2025